Hyderabad and British Paramountcy

The princely states constituted an integral part of the British empire in India. Not formally annexed, they were controlled by the British through the doctrine of paramountcy. The author analyses how pressure-groups as well as official circles in Britain moulded this doctrine and wielded it as an instrument of exploitation. This book is a commentary on legal, political, administrative, and economic implications of paramountcy in the later half of the nineteenth century. It offers a eminently readable account of the aims and strategems of Sir Salar Jung who was at once the principal collaborator, and chief adversary, of British power.